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Category Archives: Brokerage

Over the past few decades, Toyota has been a key player in creating a thriving foreign auto industry on U.S. soil. In 2017, the auto industry giant needed a site for a new, multimillion-square-foot plant. With a hard deadline of going online in 2021, they needed it fast. After years of partnership, our team was already well-versed in Toyota’s priorities, and we mobilized overnight. Our data-driven analyses of real estate, labor and incentives requirements set the foundation for an expedited site search executed with precision.

Click below for our Project Profile on Toyota Mazda’s historic, $1.6-billion investment in a new auto plant in Huntsville, Alabama.

When Toyota found a like-minded partner in Mazda, this undertaking was elevated to historic proportions, and we pivoted with it. Mazda shared Toyota’s philosophies around innovation and productivity, and both firms stood to benefit from the efficiency of working together in one facility.… Read More

Welcome to the third episode of our new, three-part miniseries, Site Selection Stories: Toyota Mazda. We’re taking you behind the before, during and after of Toyota Mazda’s historic, $1.6-billion investment in a new auto plant in Huntsville, Alabama. Meet the key players:

Welcome to Part 2 of our new, three-part miniseries, Site Selection Stories: Toyota Mazda. We’re taking you behind the before, during and after of Toyota Mazda’s historic, $1.6-billion investment in a new auto plant in Huntsville, Alabama. Meet the key players:

Welcome to a special episode of JLL Chicago Industrial – Real Time. Our new, three-part mini-series, Site Selection Stories: Toyota Mazda, will take you behind the before, during and after of Toyota Mazda’s historic, $1.6-billion investment in a new auto plant in Huntsville, Alabama. Meet the key players:

Across submarkets, Millennials fueled the commercial office market’s robust performance in the second quarter.

As global companies continue to change the complexion of their workforce in favor of digital natives, Millennials are having an increasingly outsized influence on major expansions and headquarters relocations. In 2018 alone, international companies including Rio Tinto, Showpad and iam bank have expanded their Chicago-based North American headquarters. The reason? Illinois is the second-largest producer of computer science graduates in the country.

With Illinois graduates accounting for nearly 10 percent of U.S. computer science degrees last year but only modest tech wage growth locally, Bay Area tech firms and legacy employers alike are seeing Chicago as a necessary outpost, especially for highly technical positions. Most recently, that prompted Walgreens’ to plant its flag at the Old Post Office, establishing a 200,000-square-foot digital hub.

This war for talent has definitely made its way into the development pipeline, with 6.6 million square feet underway. While incremental vacancy increases are likely at this point in the cycle, we’re still seeing rent growth, strong absorption numbers and stable concessions.… Read More

Rogers Behavioral Health was founded more than 110 years ago by Dr. Arthur Rogers, a mental health pioneer committed to providing quality healthcare for those suffering from mental illness. One of the country’s largest independent behavioral health systems today, Rogers has expanded nationally beyond its main hospital in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, now annually serving more than 16,000 adults, teens and children across the system. With an eye on pursuing more strategic, data-driven expansion, Rogers connected with our team in summer 2017.

Click below for our Project Profile on Rogers Behavioral Health, an organization that provides thousands of people a place to turn when struggling with mental illness or addiction.

Armed with our proprietary portfolio analytics tool, demographic data and a firm grasp of their business, we caught Rogers’ attention and began building a relationship as the health system’s single source of real estate expertise.
… Read More

“There’s been a big push by retail landlords to try and attract medical tenants to diversify their portfolios, many of which have been struggling to adapt to the changing nature of retail,” JLL Senior Vice President Sarah Cogswellsaid at a recent RE Journals’ event.

The challenge is catering to the specifics of healthcare tenants. Landlords are used to retailers that have their specs down to a science, a repeatable façade and the ability to take over a building and make it their own.… Read More

Shopping on your lunch hour never gets old. Especially in the suburbs, where the live/work/play perks of urban density are in short supply. Suburban malls offer the opportunity to run errands during lunch, while also conveniently supporting a wide array of business amenities such as restaurants and event space for everyday meetings and larger corporate gatherings.

Across suburban Chicago, Class A office properties within a mile of a major mall are outperforming their competition in three out of four major suburban submarkets. While the area around Fashion Outlets of Chicago appears to be flagging, JLL Research attributes that to lack of concentrated Class A buildings surrounding the retail center and the size of nearby O’Hare airport.

Just in time for summer, we’re here with an office space discount you have to see to believe. In the last five years, the gap between top-tier downtown and suburban space has dramatically widened, creating interesting opportunities for occupiers looking for luxury.

Since 2012, Class A rents have increased just 3.2 percent in the suburbs, compared with more than 21.5 percent downtown. For even the smallest tenants, this represents six-figure savings that could be reallocated to other business priorities, from talent retention to technology upgrades.… Read More

At a recent NAIOP Chicago event, the topic wasn’t real estate; it was labor. February saw the highest monthly level of job creation since mid-2016 and unemployment sits at just 4.1 percent as skilled talent becomes increasingly difficult to recruit and retain.

JLL’s Meredith O’Connor and Keith Stauber

“Job growth continues rapidly even with talent shortages and employment occurring faster than the labor force can expand,” said JLL Managing Director Keith Stauber, moderator. “These trends also mirror consumer confidence, which has been at its highest levels since 2000.”

Greater competition for labor has pushed occupiers to look at long-term workforce productivity and sustainability (including metrics like net migration and population growth) rather than short term affordability.

The NAIOP panel of experts featured JLL International Director Meredith O’Connor, Co-Chairman of JLL’s Headquarters Practice Group and a Business and Economic Incentives lead. Her top 10 takeaways:… Read More

Thanks to her innate talent, drive and uncompromising work ethic, Meredith O’Connor is without equal in the city. Her secret superpower? She’s a connector. By building relationships with likeminded and equally motivated individuals, no matter their career or industry specialization, she’s built a business to be reckoned with and lifelong friends along the way.

A key player in helping corporations uncover often overlooked business and economic incentives, Meredith’s work continues to change skylines and bolster economies across the country. Let’s take a look at how it all began.

Meredith and her family of seven

Career beginnings

Government was the perfect start for Meredith, doing great things for the city she grew up in and loves. After she got her MBA, she was promoted from sergeant at arms in the City Council into the Planning Department. Under the inspiring leadership of Mayor Daley and in partnership with a team passionate about economic development, she jump-started her career working on exciting projects from the ’96 Democratic National Convention to the 2016 Olympic bid.… Read More

Spoiler alert. In the shared economy, everyone’s customer is the end user. The knowledge worker, the talent, the Millennials, whatever you want to call it. At Chicago 2025, JLL Chicago’s marquee event held earlier this month, we heard from some of the industry’s top thought leaders on how they’re navigating the shared economy’s major changes to the way we operate.

Panelists John Gavin, Andrea Zopp and Chris Kelly

The No. 1 thing tenants talk about is talent, said World Business Chicago president and CEO AndreaZopp, which is positive news for Chicago. We’re drawing college graduates at a higher rate than our comparable cities because people are looking for quality of life, affordability and a wide variety of housing options to evolve in an urban environment. And what talent wants is driving both major business decisions and major municipal ones, like Chicago’s investment in Divvy, our bike share program. All employers want is the ability to compete, and Chicago’s diverse economy, connectivity, access to transit, and quality of neighborhoods are all formidable tools for their arsenal. Expect forward-thinking initiatives like the planned express train to O’Hare to go a long way in attracting and retaining our major corporate occupiers.… Read More

Welcome to Episode 14 of RealTime, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In our one-year anniversary episode, the team fields questions from our valued listeners. The industrial market tried to stump our experts, but were they successful? Listen for a surprise special guest and our hosts’ answers to questions including:

What is the definition ofinfill?

What are you seeing in I-55 as far as demand versus current supply?

Is commercial property beginning to respond to changes in interest rates and values?

If you could put $100 million to work, which submarket would you pick and why?

What’s driving the uptick in leasing of 350,000 to 500,000-square-foot properties?

Thank you to all of our guests and listeners for a fantastic first season. It’s been a pleasure sharing our insight on one of the most exciting and active industrial markets in the country. We continue to learn so much from collaborating with all of you. Season Two is going to clear new heights!

Two roads are diverging in Chicago, as evidenced by first quarter’s mind-boggling 35.2 percent spread between Class A and Class B asking rents downtown. While the triennial property tax assessment pushed landlords of choice properties to raise rents to record highs, they’re controlling the sticker shock with substantial concession packages.

Tenant improvement allowances are up by an average of 33 percent in the CBD over the past five years, something “that’s really moving the needle for tenant decision,” JLL Managing Director of Research Christian Beaudoin recently told Crain’s Chicago Business.

Construction costs rose 3 percent last year, there’s more than 7 million square feet of product under construction and landlords are competing aggressively to land tenants. These factors are fueling tenant demand for TI dollars, which will be applied toward building out creative, highly amenitized spaces in configurations ranging from traditional to progressive (like GGP at River North Point).

While financial services and law firms are shedding excess second generation Class A space, those vacancies continue to be offset by suburban relocations (including McGraw-Hill and AdTalem Education), particularly to the West Loop. Leasing activity has already reached more than 45 percent of last year’s total volume, a roaring start to the year bolstered by the urban migration trend.… Read More

Hundreds of industry leaders joined JLL Chicago to discuss Chicago 2025 and the shared economy. Transforming industries and challenging traditional business models, shared economy giants from Uber to WeWork have also become daily staples for all of us.

ChrisKelly, co-founder and president of Convene, a New York-based “workplace-as-a-service” platform and provider that expanded into Willis Tower last summer, kicked off the big event with a keynote. We’re on the cusp of a new paradigm, which will redefine the form and utility of office buildings. Seeing as office building design hasn’t changed since the turn of the century, the shared economy lifestyle is posing unique challenges for developers and owners alike.

The world will never move this slowly again. Knowing that two of the world’s largest economic forces, the shared economy and technology, have yet to make their mark on real estate’s dominant design, Chris shared some key predictions in building the office towers of the future:… Read More

Welcome to Episode 13.5 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In this episode, the team previews the Chicago market’s first quarter industrial statistics, breaking down everything from vacancy and absorption to investment sales and construction deliveries. The highlights:

Existing occupiers like Home Depot, Clorox, RJW and Uline are expanding around the market

Blackstone and High Street grow their holdings through portfolio acquisitions.

Mid-range leasing velocity is robust, with 21 new leases between 100,000 and 500,000 square feet in the first quarter

Take notice of the two business park developments near O’Hare, a trend more typical of suburban greenfield markets

Keep your eyes peeled for a detailed submarket report in the coming weeks!

Just six months after acquiring the 1970s-style Class B property at 222 South Riverside Plaza in 2014, ownership kicked off a transformational renovation with the close involvement of JLL’s agency leasing, project management and property management teams. The project has already experienced tremendous success and is poised to add value to ownership’s investment long after its 2017 completion.

Click below for our Project Profile on 222 South Riverside Plaza. The West Loop tower’s $50 million renovation was featured in the Chicago Tribune and continues to make a major impact on tenant renewals and rental rates.

In a strategic re-use of formerly obsolete space, the team chose the back of the lobby for the new tenant lounge, as the former ground-level retail was not a desirable location for a tenant. The multi-disciplinary JLL team played an integral role in shaping plans and facilitating efficient, clear communication around the specs and schedule of construction.… Read More

Since the American Academy of Pediatrics’ headquarters opened more than 30 years ago, the organization has experienced unprecedented growth. Membership has grown by more than 250 percent to 66,000 members, and total staff has increased from 125 to 455 people. AAP tapped JLL in early 2014 to craft a strategic real estate plan for its new “headquarters of the future.”

Click below for our Project Profile on AAP, an organization committed to the optimal physical, mental and social health and wellbeing for all infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

We explored expansion and restacking AAP’s existing Elk Grove Village building, purchase of a new building and a ground-up build-to-suit. After touring downtown and suburban sites, it became clear that a build-to-suit was the best choice for AAP’s unique needs. Hamilton Lakes Business Park in Itasca offered proximity to AAP’s valued employee base and future expandability.

As owner’s rep, we facilitated the acquisition of the land site, due diligence and entitlements, as well as the hiring of all project partners. The team worked through the approval process with the Village of Itasca regarding site layouts and engineering, traffic impact and local intersection improvements to help traffic flow.… Read More

Welcome to Episode 12 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In the first half of this two-part episode, the team learns more about mHUB, Chicago’s first innovation center for physical product development and manufacturing. As mHUB approaches its one-year anniversary celebration in March, CEO Haven Allen reflects on:

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JLL's Chicago blog offers expert insight on news and trends for owners, investors and tenants of commercial real estate. Learn more about our services and our professionals to see how they’ve helped clients throughout the Chicago area with their commercial real estate needs.

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